Olive Photography reveals how she creatively captured the the clean, fresh and classic wedding of Kwan Yu & Jimmy at Airship37

You describe the wedding of Kwan Yu and Jimmy as “Totally chill yet somehow still refined.” What elements of the wedding made this combination possible and how did you respond with your photography style to capture this day?

In their words, “Our wedding theme is very clean, fresh and classic with our colours being light grey, white, and green. We were inspired by our venue to go with this theme and it really suits our personalities since we’re no fuss people (for the most part!) We wanted a very simple, and classic wedding one that we could look back and remember as being timeless.” My approach to photography is rather simple with minimal bells & whistles, focusing on what’s important, so it was a good fit!

The wedding couple used the different spaces of Airship37 so effectively to create different modes and experiences for their guest throughout the wedding day. From your perspective photographing how did this contribute to the guest experience?

Having the different zones allows the various components of the day to flow nicely & helps ensure guests don’t feel confined to just one space. The lounge was a great space away from the ceremony area for their tea ceremony, then when the ceremony space was being flipped for the reception setup the bar/lounge and outdoor area were great for guests to mingle. Airship37 is great because it has several zones for guests throughout the day.

You were the first vendor Kwan Yu and Jimmy chose for their wedding day. How do you think this choice to choose the photographer first and have conversations contribute to the success of their wedding?

I’m not sure, but that sure was an honour!

I do offer advice to couples as they plan their wedding, so if they need vendor recommendations or help with their timeline, I’m always happy to help with that stuff.

So I’m more than just a photographer for couples – I try to be a great resource for them as well.

There are some stunning and striking day of portraits in the Airship37 venue space of Kwan You and Jimmy. What did you plan for this?

Thanks! Nothing! I allow myself to be fully present on a wedding day and allow the couple and setting to inspire what I capture.

There are some incredible day of pictures that have a very subtle fun whimsical details in them. How do you find these moments?

It’s hard to describe it, but my eye knows when it sees something worth capturing. Then I adjust my camera settings to my style for different scenarios & it all comes together.

Kwan Yu and Jimmy incorporated a traditional Tea ceremony into their wedding day at Airship37. How did the day seamlessly incorporate two ceremonies and how did you approach capturing each element of the day into the overall style of your pictures?

It was super helpful to have different zones to set up for the two ceremonies, and was nice to have that variation in their photos.

It was also great to be present as they were deciding where to set up the seating so I could offer insight about lighting and backdrop.

They originally were thinking about setting the tea ceremony up by the television on the other side of the bar. They asked what I thought and am glad they valued my opinion and went with my alternate suggestion.

What happens to your process when you know a venue well? Why did Kwan Yu and Jimmy chose Airship37 and how did you make sure to leverage these attributes of the space that they liked?

In their words:”We knew this was our venue as soon as we saw the white walls, cement floors and simplicity of Airship 37. It’s simple yet unique and gave us some really great vibes. I also love that they have the airbus, and the outdoor area that we can incorporate into our wedding details.” The things they love about their wedding ‘simple, unique, great vibes’, are words you could use to describe my work, so as mentioned above it was a good fit!

Knowing the venue well doesn’t change my process too much, other than that I don’t have to scope it out on the wedding day. I like to approach each wedding/session I do with fresh eyes, so my focus is looking out for great moments and light (which Airship37 has plenty of!)